


Standing Beside Your Love

by Pey119



Series: STS [10]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Demigods (Percy Jackson), Complete, F/M, Ghost Nico di Angelo, Jason-Centric, M/M, Married Couple, Nico di Angelo & Piper McLean Friendship, Protective Jason Grace, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 20:33:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19258684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pey119/pseuds/Pey119
Summary: Sequel to Standing Up With Love. Piper and Jason move into a house full of ghosts





	1. Chapter 1

Nico looked out of the large window as the car parked in the driveway, his eye twitching at the sight of another family. "Here they come."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "How do you think they'll be?"

Nico shrugged. "The guy looks stuck up to me."

"Nico!" Will hissed. "You know how rude that is?"

Nico shrugged. "He can't hear me. He's all the way out by his car. Oh, god, he's got kids."

"Two girls." Annabeth looked behind her to see if her daughters were around. "They'll have friends to play with, now."

"Or they'll be scared away," Nico commented. "There's also that option."

Annabeth hit his arm as the man unlocked the front door. "Will was right, you know. You can be rude."

Nico rolled his eyes. "So?"

Will couldn't help but chuckle. "Just don't be rude to the new people, Neeks. We all made a deal not to scare them away."

"So that means no appearing to them." Annabeth reminded her husband. "They'll freak if they see us."

Percy held his hands up in surrender. "I won't, I won't, I promise. You already reminded me five times."

"It's the only way to get through the seaweed in your thick skull." Annabeth joked. "Oh, here they come!"

As she spoke, the man opened the door. Blond hair, blue eyes. A purple shirt and jeans. Behind him was a woman around the same age, carrying two small girls that looked exactly like her. The color of her eyes couldn't quite be placed, but they were beautiful anyway.

"It's beautiful," she stated, her shoulder brushing against the man's. "How'd you get it for so cheap?"

"I have my ways, Pipes." he took the oldest girl into his own arms. "Look, Katie. Isn't it awesome?"

Katie nodded, her big eyes wide. "So big!"

"Anything's bigger than the apartment." the woman mumbled. "Jason, show us around. You said you checked it all out with Leo?"

Jason nodded. "Made sure it was safe for us. Come on, I'll show you our room. It's beautiful."

"It's also our room," Percy muttered, only heard by the other dead spirits in the room. "Now I'll be sleeping on him."

"We can stay in another room." Annabeth put a hand on his arm. "I know we're used to our room but we can make a new one work."

"Ha, Will and I don't have to move." Nico stuck his tongue out at Annabeth and Percy.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth." Will kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "You're being childish."

"So?"

Will sighed. "Nothing, Neeks."

"That's what I thought."


	2. Chapter 2

When they laid down to sleep, Jason couldn't get comfortable even though his body sunk into the bed. He felt like someone was watching him, watching his moves and his thoughts and his actions. It was hard to sleep thinking that every move you made was somehow wrong in the eyes of someone else.

Piper slept well beside him, her soft breathing tickling the skin on his neck. She didn't seem fazed in the least by the weird energy, or she was exhausted from watching the girls all day. Either way, Jason was alone in his fear all night.

At one point, in his half-asleep daze of reality, he thought he saw someone in the doorway staring at him. The figure didn't move, didn't speak, and didn't last long. In seconds it was gone. He eventually fell asleep, but he couldn't get that figure out of his mind. It haunted his dreams until Piper woke him up in the morning.

"Are you okay?" her face loomed over his, her hair fell onto him. "You didn't look like you were having a good dream."

"I'm okay." Jason gave her a fake smile. "New house, you know."

"Yeah..." Piper beamed as she got off the bed. "A new house...all ours... We've got a house, Jase. A house we can raise our kids in."

Jason smiled at her hope, at the sight of her dream finally coming true. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

She nodded. "I can unpack more when you're at work. So get ready and I'll have breakfast ready. When you get home I might go hang out with Leo..."

"That's fine." Jason dragged himself to his feet. "Is there something I can make them for dinner?"

Piper shrugged. "You're the one that got everything here, not me."

"Right." Jason rubbed at his face. "I have to go to the store after work. Um... For breakfast, there's some dry cereal... I don't think there's any milk or anything like that."

"Of course there isn't." Piper wrapped a robe around herself. "I'll go wake the kids. Don't forget to get food."

"I won't," Jason promised, going to his closet in search of clothes. "Text me to remind me if you want."

"Oh, I will," Piper promised. "That isn't something I can risk you forgetting. That town's too far to keep going back and forth. And you know how hungry Maddie gets."

Jason started to get dressed, his blue eyes focused on the wall in front of him. What had he seen last night?

Piper leaned against the doorframe with her arms wrapped around herself. "Jason...You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Pipes," he assured. "Why do you ask?"

"You've got a thousand yard stare going on." she joked before her tone became suddenly serious. "Are you okay? I know...I know it's only been five years. If you need to talk..."

"I'm fine." Jason began to put his tie on. "I told you before, Pipes. I'm fine. We don't need to talk about it."

"Then why won't you look at me?" she asked. "The wall isn't that interesting, you know."

"I know." Jason looked back at her with emotionless eyes. "I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Right..." Piper glanced away. "I'm going to go get the kids up."

"Okay." Jason cleared his throat. "Go do that, then."

Piper rolled her eyes before leaving the room, her hair still having braids it in from the day before. Hair stuck up around them, falling into her face in a mess that only sleep could cause. As she looked for her daughters' bedroom, she felt a chill go through her, causing her to stop in her tracks.

The carpet beneath her bare feet still felt comfortable, the hallway still looked fancier than she ever imagined she could own. But deep down, underneath the goosebumps and the hair-raising on end, she knew that something was off. She knew that something was there with her.

Something not remotely human.


	3. Chapter 3

Nico sat on the cupboard with his feet dangling, watching the new woman as she poured three bowls of dry cereal. Piper, her name was, though he didn't know the last name. From what he got so far, she was married to that blond man and the two kids were theirs.

But it didn't seem as simple as that.

"Okay, eat up." Piper kissed each of her daughters on the forehead before giving them their bowls. "We'll have better food later, I promise."

The oldest daughter was around seven, with hair as blonde as her father's. It was up in pigtails despite the morning hour. When she ate, she looked around the room as if to catch a glimpse of something. "Momma, where's dad?"

"Getting ready for work." Piper sat beside the youngest girl, who looked to be around three or four. "He'll be down here soon enough."

"When does he get back from work?" Katie questioned.

Piper couldn't help but smile. "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?"

"I will." Katie decided, picking at her cereal. "It's stale."

"It's all we have," Piper replied.

Katie climbed off her seat. "I'll ask dad for something else."

"He has nothing else to give you." Piper reached over to help Maddie eat. "You've got to eat this, Katie. Or no playing today."

"That's not fair!"

"It doesn't have to be fair." Piper sat back in her chair. "Come sit back down. No leaving until you eat."

Katie folded her small arms. "If I tell dad-"

"He'll agree with me." Piper finished. "I already talked to him about it."

"Momma!" Maddie broke up the conversation as she reached for her mother. "Ilk?"

"We don't have any milk, baby." Piper got up. "Do you want water to drink?"

Maddie nodded her brunette head. "Ah,"

"I'll get you some." Piper looked to Katie, pointing at the seat the girl had previously been sitting in. "Sit and eat."

She walked to the kitchen to get Maddie her drink as Katie reluctantly sat down again. With eyes like her mother's, she looked around the room in hopes that her father would soon show up. The term "daddy's girl" described her perfectly.

And it was for a reason. They never told her the truth, but something in that little girl knew that Piper wasn't her real mother.

"She's spoiled as fuck," Nico commented as Will appeared next to him. "Wonder why."

"Don't curse." Will chided. "And be nice."

"I'm being nice." Nico defended. "I'm saying the truth."

"The truth isn't always nice," Will muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Jason stepped into the dining room, Katie was at his side with tears pouring from her eyes. "Momma's being mean!"

Nico rolled his eyes as the man kneeled next to his daughter. "He eggs it on. No wonder she's like that."

"Nico, shush." Will put a finger to his boyfriend's lips. "She isn't your kid."

"Thank god."

"Nico."

Jason took Katie into his arms as he stood back up. "That's all we've got. You don't have to eat but you'll get really hungry."

"Why don't we have anything else?" Katie pleaded. "I thought we rich now cause we got this house!"

"The world doesn't work like that, sweetheart." Jason set her in her chair. "Maddie's eating it and not complaining."

"That's cause she's a baby." Katie glared at her bowl of cereal. "Why not bacon? Or eggs?"

"I need to buy all that after work." Jason sat by her. "There's nothing in the fridge. It's all empty."

Katie's eyes widened. "Really?"

Jason nodded. "Really."

"So we're poor?"

"I can't listen to this anymore." Nico crawled on Will's lap. "Want to go snuggle?"

Will buried his head in Nico's hair. "Neeks... You can't hate them. They'll probably be here for a while."

"Unless I-"

"No." Annabeth appeared in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest. "You're not scaring them off."

"When are you the boss?" Nico questioned. "I was here first."

"Because you're not the brightest." Annabeth tapped the side of her head. "If you had smarts you wouldn't even consider scaring them off."

"Annie-" Will tried.

"You're seriously calling me stupid?" Nico got up and stood on his tiptoes to glare into Annabeth's eyes. "You'll regret that."

"Neeks-"

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth taunted. "Kill me? That's a little impossible now, Nico."

"Annabeth-"

"I wouldn't say impossible." Nico shot back. "Nothing's impossible if you try hard enough."

"Nico!" Will stepped between the two to break their locked gazes. "If you shut up for two seconds you can see that the youngest girl is looking right at us! She can see us!"

As if to prove his point, Maddie nodded her small head. "Yup!"


	5. Chapter 5

Three ghosts, three faces of shock. Three beings who had no idea what to do. One human, one small girl who looked at them as if they had always been family, or maybe had always been her pets.

"The hell do we do now?" Nico asked.

Will broke out of his shock to turn to his boyfriend. "NO CURSING IN FRONT OF THE KID!"

Nico leaned his head back and sighed. "Is this what I have to deal with, now? Watching every fucking thing that comes out of my mouth?"

"Language!"

Nico held his hands up in surrender. "I'm gone." And with that, he disappeared.

Will turned from the spot where Nico had been to face the small girl, finding her in a fit of laughter. "What? You found that funny?"

She nodded her small head, finally getting the attention of her father. "Ah!"

"Maddie." Jason turned away from the now eating Katie. "Who are you talking to?"

"Abort mission." Annabeth disappeared into the thin light coming in the open window.

"Annie!" Will hissed, now the only spirit in the room.

Maddie looked to her father before pointing right at Will. Jason, his cold eyes focusing on the spot of air, pursed his lips. "There's nothing there, sweetie."

Maddie pointed more vigorously. "Ah! Will!"

"Damn." Will found himself cursing, surprised the girl had picked up on his name.

Jason's eyes grew concerned. "Will... What does he look like, baby?"

As soon as Will heard the question, he fleed from the room to avoid what might not be able to be stopped. If that guy was as smart as he seemed...

"What happened?" Nico asked from his bed, Will unknowingly having gone to their shared room. "Did you scare her or something?"

"No, I didn't scare her." Will laid by Nico. "She started to tell her father about me. My name and stuff."

"Guess it was too much to hope for that they wouldn't find out." Nico laid his head on Will's chest. "Do you think they'll tear this place down?"

Will ran his fingers through Nico's hair. "I hope not."

"But they could?"

"Yeah...they could...if too many people leave..."

"Then we've got to get them to stay." Nico decided.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Will asked.

"I have no idea," Nico admitted. "I'll have to talk to Annabeth or something. She's smart. And Percy's smarter than we give him credit for."

"Yeah, I guess so." Will kissed Nico's head. "But for now...let's just lay together. I..."

"Flashbacks?" Nico asked, recognizing Will's tone of voice.

Will nodded. "Yeah..."

"Of?"

"Your death... My...death..." Will closed his eyes. "Just hold me?"

Nico kept him close. "Course. I love you, Will."

"Love you, too."


	6. Chapter 6

Jason walked through the grocery store in silence, his thoughts trained on his childhood. After everything he went through...there was a reason he despised the idea of ghosts. There was a reason he hated everything about them.

His mother... No, he wouldn't think about it. Maddie just had an imaginary friend, that was all...that was all...right?

Jason grabbed a pack of bacon, threw it in the cart. Katie liked bacon.

Katie...his only daughter by blood. When he met Piper, she had a newborn on her hands from a man that had walked out before she was even three months pregnant. She and Katie hit it off, he fell in love with that little baby. Before long, they had gotten married with Leo and Calypso as witnesses.

Katie and Maddie were his babies, even if not by blood. They were what kept him and Piper going. They were what kept his heart soft. He'd do anything for them, and what he could do now was fill up that cart to make it up to them for the breakfast they had earlier.

He got Maddie's favorite, got her animal crackers and chocolate milk. He made sure to get an assortment of dinner items for Katie.

Checked out, piled the bags into the car, drove home.

The country roads were long and empty, surrounded by forests or fields of corn. In the ditches, leaves piled up as winter loomed on the horizon. And with the winter came the storm.

As soon as he got home he knew something was wrong. He could sense it as he pulled into the driveway, could sense it as he parked the car and stepped out. The crisp air entered his lungs, sharpened his brain. He looked up, saw a window open on the third floor, a window that didn't have a screen or anything to stop something from falling out.

And through the window, he saw Maddie's brown curls.

"MADDIE-" Jason stopped mid-scream as he saw the window slam shut. There was no one by it, no force to do it. But he saw it close, saw it latch. For a minute, he saw his daughter escaped the danger that had enveloped him in panic only seconds before. And that relief calmed him until Piper came out of the house to see what happened. But then, as he explained to her, his mind froze as he tried to make sense of the closing window.

"Jason..." Piper was paler than she had been before. "Look...I...I need you to believe me when I say this..."

"What's that?"

"That window..." Piper swallowed thickly. "I've closed it five times today. It keeps opening without either of them in the room."

Jason stared at his wife. "You're serious?"

"I'm serious."

Jason shook his head in disbelief. "Pipes..."

"I know, I know." she put her head in her hands. "I feel damn well insane. But I saw it... I canceled with Leo. I couldn't think to leave my babies here with...with whatever opened it."

"Piper, I would watch them," Jason assured her.

"I know."

"Then why won't you let me?"

Piper's eyes moved to the ground. "Jason..."

"What?"

"I...I..." Piper spread her hands helplessly. "You'll hate me for saying it."

"Piper...I won't leave it alone until you tell me. That's how marriages work. We have to speak the truth." he crossed his arms. "Especially if it's about the kids."

Piper sat on the front steps. "If...if the girls were in danger..."

"I would protect them." Jason sat next to her and held her hand. "You know I would."

"I know." Piper gripped his hand. "I know, Jason."

"Then what are you worried about?" he asked. "That I won't be able to protect them from a stupid ghost?"

"Ghost? No, no." Piper shook her head. "I'm worried you're going to have to choose and you're going to choose Katie cause she's your kid. And I get it. I...I would choose Maddie... I love Katie, I do. But Maddie's my baby."

Jason looked ahead of them at the large driveway. "Oh..."

"Yeah, oh." Piper looked away. "And I'm starting to realize they're in danger here. So I'm not going to leave them alone."

Nico looked over at Will, having been watching from the doorway. "Do they realize that they've been leaving them alone the whole time they've been talking?" Only when he finished his question, only when he saw Will's pale face, did he realize that he had spoken for Piper and Jason to hear him.


	7. Chapter 7

Jason ran into the house with Piper close behind. As soon as they got to the girls, they each picked up one and held them close. Protectiveness. That parental feeling. Yet, even so, Jason held Maddie to his chest as Piper held Katie to hers.

Both adults looked at each other, noticed what kid they had, broke out in grins at the situation.

"Maybe I was wrong..." Piper kissed Katie's head before walking over to Jason. "That was instinctual and we grabbed who we could get to first."

"Let me go!" Katie protested before Jason could agree. She tried wiggling out of Piper's arms, her hands clasping the toy she had been playing with. "You made me mess up my Barbie house!"

"Sorry, sweetheart." Piper set her down but made sure to keep her eyes on her. "Why are you two all the way up here?"

"Maddie wanted to," Katie replied. "She say she has friends up here."

"Friends?" Jason looked around them for the first time to see where they were. An old bedroom, it looked like, with a bed just as used as his and Piper's. "Pipes...if this was the window that kept opening..."

"I know. Let's go downstairs." Piper kneeled by Katie. "I'll help you carry your toys down. Come on, your dad got us good food for dinner."

"Really?" Katie perked up. "What'd he get?"

"Let's go look." Piper helped the little girl gather her toys before leading her downstairs. "We can help bring the bags in and then look at all the stuff he got."

As they left the surrounding area, Jason looked down at Maddie. Her small head rested against his chest, her eyes stared at the bed. For a minute, he watched the bed also in hopes he could see what she saw. But he never did.

"Maddie, is Will here?" he finally asked. "Is that who you see?"

Maddie nodded her small head. "And Nico."

Jason cursed silently before regaining his composure. "Two people? You see two people in here?"

She nodded before pointing to the bed. "There!"

"What does Nico look like?" Jason asked. "How old is he?"

"I no know that." she tried getting out of his arms. "He black hair and black eyes and loves Will."

Will looked over at Nico. "True."

Nico scowled as Jason set his daughter down. "Whatever, Solace. It's your fault they're in here."

"My fault? You're the one that kept opening the window." Will looked down at Maddie as she stood against the bed. "Hey, sweetheart." He glanced up at Jason, saw him watching silently. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted a breeze." Nico defended himself as Will made room for Maddie on the bed. "Not my fault stupid Jason thinks we're ghosts."

"We are ghosts." Will reminded him as Maddie climbed onto the bed. "His daughter is the only one who can see us. That's why he's acting like that."

"He's still stupid," Nico muttered.

"Daddy no stupid." Maddie sat as close as she could to Will but kept her eyes on Nico. "He smart!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Doubt it."

Maddie went to speak again before Jason came and scooped her up. "Let's go down and eat, sweetheart. Nico and Will can wait till later to talk to you."

"They no talk to me," Maddie replied as he carried her out of the room. "They talk to each other. And kiss!"

"Do they?" Jason glanced back into the room once more before carrying her downstairs. As he left, Will looked over at Nico and leaned in for a kiss.

"Not a chance." Nico pushed Will's face away.


	8. Chapter 8

Percy watched from the doorway as his kids ran about the room with different toys they had borrowed from the new occupants of the house. Two dolls, in particular, were their favorite, dolls that belonged to living girls. But even though his little girls were dead, they still loved them.

Dead. It still broke his heart to think that his children were dead. They'd never grow up, they'd never get taller. They'd never marry. His bloodline was just as dead as them, buried six feet under.

Did these new owners know about all the bodies buried beneath their feet as they walked to their car, as they walked these grounds?

He envied the living. Envied their ignorance. If only he could live as they were now.

"Perce." Annabeth came up beside him and laid a hand on his arm. "You okay? I told you before. You have an aura now. Your sadness is leaking out."

Percy looked over at his wife, could still picture the blood covering her fair skin. "Just thinking... We have a lot of time to think nowadays."

"Think about something else." Annabeth grabbed his hand. "Think about how we never have to lose each other. Think about maybe going to Heaven one day."

"Nico said-"

"Nico's stubborn." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Just because he doesn't believe in it doesn't mean it isn't real."

Percy ran a hand through her blonde hair. "You've always been the smartest one here, Annie."

"Don't you know it, Seaweed Brain." she went to kiss him but stopped when she saw her kids watching out of the corner of her eye. "What are you girls doing?"

Octavia couldn't keep her giggles in. "You and daddy were gonna be gross."

Percy walked into the room and picked his daughter up before tickling her stomach. "Kissing is gross, huh?"

Octavia shrieked with laughter. "Yes!"

Annabeth smiled at the two of them before turning to leave the room. When she did, she found herself face to face with the woman who now lived there. Piper.

Their eyes met.


	9. Chapter 9

Piper took a step back, her pale face set in a horrified expression. She looked at Annabeth, looked at this ghost, saw a threat to herself and her family.

But she didn't run, didn't scream. After a second of silence, she composed herself together, clenched her fists and prepared to fight. "Whoever you are...get out of my house. It's not vacant anymore."

Annabeth gave her a sad smile. "Piper... Look at my stomach, look through me."

Piper's lips moved to retort but her voice stopped short at the sight of the old blood marks staining Annabeth's clothes. And through her, she could see the room behind her. "How...you...you're..."

"Dead." Nico appeared beside Annabeth. "What happened to not telling them? You went against your own advice."

"It was a mistake, Nico." Annabeth pushed him away from Piper. "Now lay off. She's having a hard enough time as it is."

Piper stayed silent as the two spirits bickered, her brain trying to process the situation, trying to rationalize it in any way possible. But she could see through Annabeth, she saw Nico appear from thin air.

"Holy shit..." Piper let her fists drop. "You're...you're...ghosts..."

"Uh, yeah, last time I checked," Nico replied. "If not then I'm aging really well."

"Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean you can be so sarcastic to her." Annabeth hissed. "She was nice to you. Be nice back or she'll leave."

"Hold up." Piper looked between them. "You...actually want us to stay?"

Annabeth nodded. "See... Lots of people have either died here or moved away. If they think they can't sell it...they'll tear it down."

"And we're kinda stuck here." Nico inputted. "So that'd be bad."

"Yeah, that'd be bad..." Piper repeated to herself.

"We won't hurt you," Annabeth promised. "My kids love playing with your kids. My husband usually sticks by me. Nico and Will...they're Nico and Will."

"What does that mean?" Nico spun to face her. "You're saying we're not good ghosts?"

"I'm saying that even after hundreds of years you two still want to make love every night." Annabeth poked him in the chest. "It's annoying. It's weird. It shouldn't be possible."

"But it is, I can assure you of that." Nico looked to Piper. "Tell her it's okay to make love to the man you love."

"She's not going to say that!" Annabeth put her head in her hands. "You're insufferable, Nico. I swear I don't know how I ended up stuck here with you of all people..."

"You died in the house I died," Nico answered unhelpfully. "That's what did it."

"di Angelo-"

"Please stop arguing." Piper pleaded, causing them both to turn to her. "I...It's okay. I won't leave." She turned to Annabeth. "Your kids...they get along with my girls?"

Annabeth nodded. "And they love their toys."

Piper nodded to herself. "Okay...okay, that's good..."

Nico leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "You believe so easily?"

"Seeing is believing, I guess." Piper shrugged. "I saw you...appear. And I can see through you guys. That means...it's real."

"You're a smart girl." Annabeth pushed Nico aside. "Don't corrupt her."

"Haha," Nico looked to Piper. "Your kids are alright. We won't hurt them." He looked back to Annabeth and stuck his tongue out. "You're rude." And with that, he disappeared.

Piper shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell...?"


	10. Chapter 10

Piper watched Jason from the doorway, her robe wrapped tightly around her as to keep the warmth in. After seeing what she saw...the coldness never went away, as if the ghosts themselves were inside her, affecting her temperature. They were in her mind, that was for sure.

As she watched Jason cook dinner, all she could think about was how they hadn't noticed more, how Jason still didn't know. This house... It was known for its deaths, known for its history. Had ghosts really never crossed their minds?

"Jason." Piper stepped into the kitchen as she felt a surge of wind rush past her. Without a doubt, she knew it had been one of the ghosts she had spoken to earlier. But which one, she wasn't sure. "We need to talk. It's...it's really important."

"Is everything okay?" Jason looked over from the shaped noodles he had been filling with the mixture he had put together. "What, don't want Italian tonight?"

Piper waved his questions aside. "It's about this house. About...about what's happened in this house, before we came."

"Did someone die?" Jason asked. "I mean...it's old. Older than the civil war."

"Yeah, people died..." Piper sat on the island and let her feet dangle. "But that's not...all that's important. It's the fact that...that they're still here."

Jason's hands stopped working. "Excuse me?"

"I know, I know you don't like to think about it...after...you know." Piper moved a hand to his shoulder. "But I saw them. I felt them. I talked to them."

"You know it sounds crazy..."

"I know."

"But it makes sense." he closed his eyes. "The kids...the window...what I've heard..."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Jason nodded. "I don't like to believe it, either. But I know I have to... Describe them to me?"

The air rushed passed her again, sent her hair fluttering about. "A woman and her husband. Her name is Annabeth, I think. She's got kids that play with Maddie and Katie."

"...okay..."

"And then there's Nico." Piper continued. "He's with Will, I think his name is. They spend time to themselves, I think. None of them seem like bad people."

"They're ghosts, not people," Jason replied bluntly. "They're not people, Pipes. They're not our roommates. They could secretly be demons, trying to lure you in."

"I wish." Nico's voice caused both of them to turn to the door, where Nico leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Being a demon would be awesome."

Jason's face turned pale. "Holy shit..."

"Hi." Nico looked to Piper. "So, are you two staying or leaving?"

Jason wrapped an arm around Piper's shoulders, his eyes on Nico. "Don't talk to her like you're friends. You're not."

"Jason..." Piper shrugged his arm away. "Don't dictate my relationships."

"I wouldn't if he was, you know, alive." Jason gestured to Nico. "Look at him. He's eyeing you like you're a prostitute or something."

"I can assure you that I'm not." Nico's form flickered. "I'm gay, you idiot."

"What'd I hear about prostitutes?" Will appeared by Nico, making both Piper and Jason jump. "Nico, what are you getting in to?"

Nico gestured to Jason. "He thinks I like Piper. I told him I'm gay."

"Damn right you are." Will looked to Jason. "You thought he was straight?"

Jason let his arms fall to his sides in utter defeat. "Sorry..."

Piper couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. "These are going to be fun times, that's for sure."

"So you're staying?" Nico asked, backing up to the original topic. "I didn't know if your husband would make you leave or not."

"We don't have the money for that." Jason turned back to the food and started to prepare it again. "We'll stay. But if any of you hurt my family..."

"We won't," Will assured him. "I can promise you that. If anything, you have all of us to look out for you guys."

Piper walked over to the two ghosts and held her hand out. "We need a proper introduction. I'm Piper McLean."

"Will Solace." Will shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Piper."

"Nice to meet you, too."


	11. Chapter 11

Piper woke up to the same wind she had felt when Jason had been cooking. That cold breeze, her hairs rising on end. It made her feel like she wasn't alone, like she was in the presence of something she hadn't seen before. Immediately, she knew it wasn't Will, Nico, or Annabeth.

"Hello?" she crept from the bed, keeping her voice low. Tree branches banged against the windows. "Who's there?"

Jason moved in his sleep but didn't wake up. Again, the wind sent her hair up into the air.

"Nico?" she whispered. "Annabeth?"

No answer. The wind moved towards the door, was heard moving down the hallway. Without any other choice, Piper followed.

She followed it down the hall, passed her daughters' room. She followed it downstairs, followed it to the back door. There, she watched as the slim door opened by itself into the outside world.

"Who are you?" she asked again, this time louder. "What do you want?"

The wind shook the trees, the forest seemed to be laughing at her. In the distance, the barn door opened and closed repeatedly.

"Do you want me to go there?" she asked, slipping on some shoes. "What's in that barn?"

Without an answer or sign, Piper made her way into the backyard. The trees threatened to fall to the ground, the sky lit up in streaks of lightning. In her chest, she could feel the thunder rumble.

Piper got to the barn soon enough, her feet stopping her from going any further when she saw that the barn's door had fell shut. On its front, a padlock showed that it never should have been able to open.

"Damn..." Piper felt the chill hit her bones. "Who...whoever you are...show me what you want to show me."

A sudden sound caused her to look over, caused her to see that side door. The door was propped open, it's hinges broken and worn from years of Mother Nature's wrath. Through the small opening, Piper could see the beginnings of a staircase going into the earth.

"Woah..." she looked around her just in case she could catch sight of the ghost that had been leading her, but none seemed to be around. "Okay... I'm going to go down." She took a second to turn the flashlight on her phone on before shinning it down the staircase. "Is that safe...?"

Safe. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. She descended it anyway.

The wood creaked under her weight, the wind died down into silence. As she descended further and further below ground, all sounds disappeared besides the noises she made herself. Her breathing turned heavy, her skin scraped against the sides of the staircase.

She knew she wasn't alone.

Her phone's flashlight lit up the way, and along with the way showed her how many spiders were down there. They crawled around, crunched under her feet. She could only thank God that she had remembered to put shoes on, or she'd be picking the carcasses off from the bottom of her feet.

When she got to the bottom of the staircase, her sleepy mind finally registered the smell. It hit her full on, sent her eyes wide at the sight the smell was most definitely coming from.

At her feet, at the bottom of that staircase, human bones gleamed in her flashlight's beam.


	12. Chapter 12

Piper looked up from her desk when she felt Nico enter the room, her sad eyes still worn from the events of the previous night. "What do you need?"

Nico's pale face was the only mark to show that he was dead. Unlike Will or Annabeth, no marks showed suicide or homicide. "The body you found..."

"Was it yours?" she asked. "Or Will's?"

Nico shook his head. "You haven't met her. She...she showed it to you last night with as much energy as she could muster. The storm fueled her."

"Oh..." Piper thought back to all the signs, that gust of wind. "Where is she now?"

Nico shrugged. "Ready to move on, I assume. But she needs her body buried. She needs a good gravestone."

Piper took a paper and pen. "Tell me her name."

"Hazel." Nico flickered at the word. "She was a slave so I don't think she had a last name."

Piper nodded. "One gravestone for Hazel, coming up."

"Thank you..." Nico walked over to her desk. "You're just accepting that easily? Aren't they expensive?"

"We'll figure it out. It's the least I can do." Piper smiled up at him. "If I can help her move on, I will."

Nico nodded his thanks. "I should be going..."

Piper grabbed his arm before he could turn around. "Wait."

Nico looked in her eyes, unable to decide on which color they truly were. "What?"

Piper bit her lip. "Is there any way for you to move on? Any way I can help?"

Nico shook his head sadly. "Not that I'm aware. Will and I...have too much baggage. This is our purgatory."

Piper let him go. "Right... Then... Good luck."

Nico nodded. "Thanks, Piper."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They buried her beside Nico and Will's graves, deep in the forest beneath the canopy of trees. Some deer came to watch, the sun seemed to shrink away. With the few words they said over that casket, Hazel's spirit floated away.

Next to go was Frank's, who had always been at her side. They rose up hand in hand, rose up into that cloudy sky.

When they got back home, Nico stood at the door. His dark eyes were full of sadness, his hands were clenched at his sides. When asked what was wrong, he stared up to where Hazel and Frank disappeared into the sky.

Piper recognized the look of yearning, recognized the jealousy in his eyes. He wanted to go with them, wanted to go himself into the sky.

She talked to Will, talked to Annabeth and Percy. If they were to go together, they all wanted to go.

So she called a priest.


	13. Chapter 13

Nico grabbed Will's hand, kept it close as he saw that priest get out of his car. "Did I do the right thing? Should I have let this happen?"

Will smiled at Nico, his eyes taking in the face of his longtime lover. "Neeks...this had to happen eventually. And we're going to somewhere better. It's good. You can see Hazel again."

"Yeah, I guess." Nico looked to Percy and Annabeth, who sat on the nearby couch with their children playing near. "Is it okay with you two?"

Percy looked up from where he watched his kids. "We need this, Nico. We need to bring our kids to somewhere better. And...and we're all going to be together. So what's there to worry about?"

"We don't know what it's like up there." Nico reasoned. "We don't know where we'll be or how we'll feel."

"Nico, stop worrying." Will took Nico's face in his hands. "Okay? Stop worrying. Everything will be okay. I promise."

"But-"

"I promise."

Nico looked over as the priest entered, followed by Piper. Jason had taken the kids to the town, not wanting them to see something so...odd, different. Something that no living person needed to see. "Will, don't let go of me."

"I won't." Will held Nico close as Percy and Annabeth started to gather their kids. "I promise I won't."

The priest pulled a Bible out, flipped it open to a certain page. Nico looked around, saw the house he had been in for so long. Those four walls that kept him prisoner, those four walls that held all his pain. It was finally time to be free of that.

Nico never left Will's side. Even when they rose into that light, they stayed together in a way only soulmates could.


End file.
